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$500,000 Wind Farm Experts, No Advice In 2 Years (Read 450 times)
whiteknight
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$500,000 Wind Farm Experts, No Advice In 2 Years
Jun 12th, 2018 at 1:13pm
 
$500,000 wind farm experts provided no advice in two years   Sad

11 June 2018
Sydney Morning Herald


A $500,000 scientific committee created by the Coalition government to monitor the health effects of wind turbines held one face-to-face meeting in two years, failed to provide any official advice and had its work repeatedly rejected by research journals. 

Documents also show that while the federal environment department’s budget has declined steadily under the Coalition, bureaucrats have splashed out on travel, treadmills and office refurbishments.
The scientific committee was established to advise the government on the health effects of wind turbines.

The scientific committee was established to advise the government on the health effects of wind turbines.


The Independent Scientific Committee on Wind Turbines was established in October 2015, fulfilling a commitment by the previous Abbott administration.

The four-person taxpayer-funded committee was tasked with advising the government on the potential health and environment impacts of wind turbine sound. It is chaired by RMIT adjunct professor John Davy, a leading acoustics researcher.

The committee’s 2017 annual report shows it held seven video conference meetings that year, however “it proved impossible to have a face to face meeting”. The group met once in person the previous year as well as by video conference.


The committee is required to provide advice on developing wind farm standards, including sound measuring methods.


The Independent Scientific Committee on Wind Turbines fulfilled a commitment by former prime minister Tony Abbott


The report, dated April this year, said it “is yet to provide this advice” because “it must first determine exactly what needs to be measured”, including whether it is necessary to measure low frequency sound and infrasound - sound waves so low they are inaudible to humans.

In February last year the committee resolved to publish parts of their research as papers in learned journals, so they would be peer-reviewed.

The first paper, covering wind turbine sound limits, was submitted to the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. The journal asked for the paper to be modified after “extensive” peer review comments. The paper was resubmitted but again rejected.

It was also rejected by the Journal of Sound and Vibration because it was “outside the scope of the journal”. In December last year the paper was sent to the Applied Acoustics journal.




The Department of the Environment and Energy has not yet responded to questions on whether the paper has been published, what committee meetings were held this year and whether advice has been provided to the government.

The first three-year term of the committee was expected to cost $507,000. It ends in December when its progress will be reviewed. A wind farm commissioner was also appointed at a cost of more than $2 million, and has resolved an average one complaint a week.

Meantime, the department’s answers to Senate estimates have revealed several cash splurges in 2017 including almost $400,000 to “refresh” the foyer of its Canberra headquarters. It included new carpet and parquetry tiles, and relocating a security desk.

The department told Fairfax Media the floor was damaged and the work also addressed security risks.

In June last year the department spent almost $25,000 flying mining executives and others to the DeGrussa mine site 900 kilometres north-east of Perth. The 69-person trip included a $20,000 charter flight. The trip was organised and part-funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency [ARENA]. The department said the event was designed to show how renewable energy could be integrated with mining operations.

Other spending by the department last year included $131,000 on 27 instant hot water units, $12,000 on two treadmills and $10,000 on a corporate planning day in Canberra for six senior executives. The department also spent $6.74 million on travel, up from $4.84 million in 2014.

The department’s budget has fallen since the Coalition came to power, from $1.37 billion in 2013-14 to an estimated $1.014 billion this financial year. The figure does not include funding passed on to some agencies. Staff numbers have fallen by 144 people.

Greens environment spokesman Andrew Bartlett said the wind turbine committee was a misuse of public money “to make a deluded and discredited argument [that turbines cause adverse health effects] in order to prop up a dying coal industry”.   Sad

He said the environment department was being underfunded, citing ARENA, the Emissions Reduction Fund and the department's conservation division where jobs were recently cut.

"We are on the brink of losing many of Australia’s iconic species, while the department is flying mining executives around the country," he said.   Sad

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lee
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Re: $500,000 Wind Farm Experts, No Advice In 2 Years
Reply #1 - Jun 12th, 2018 at 1:34pm
 
whiteknight wrote on Jun 12th, 2018 at 1:13pm:
A $500,000 scientific committee created by the Coalition government to monitor the health effects of wind turbines held one face-to-face meeting in two years, failed to provide any official advice and had its work repeatedly rejected by research journals. 



Crap scientists?
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President Elect, The Mechanic
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Re: $500,000 Wind Farm Experts, No Advice In 2 Years
Reply #2 - Jun 13th, 2018 at 6:51pm
 
there's only one logical thing to do...

shut down all of the useless wind farms, sack all of these useless bastards and build clean coal power stations...

our power will be halved...

Fixed...  Smiley
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Q

The STORM has arrived
Every Dog Has Its Day...
Dark to Light.
Sheep no more.
 
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TheFunPolice
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Re: $500,000 Wind Farm Experts, No Advice In 2 Years
Reply #3 - Jun 14th, 2018 at 7:41pm
 
Everyone, ...just talk loads and loads of shite to your kiddies and that will solve the problem: have more kids and feed them stories about how free markets are the best thing that ever happened even though they don't exist and she'll be apples mate!
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......Australia has an illegitimate Government!
 
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